Within a couple of days, the three travelers were nearing Suna. The three of them were marveling the sight before they reached the gate. Shikamaru had sent a message earlier that day, telling the sand siblings that they would be arriving later that day. And sure enough, the three of them were waiting outside the gates for their guests to arrive.

"Shikamaru!" Temari shouted as she ran at full speed towards Shikamaru before stopping to hug him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Shikamaru replied. The two of them were in each others arms, completely lost in each others eyes.

"Anyway, it's nice to see you again Ghaara." Naruto said as he put a hand out.

Ghaara then shook it, with an ever-so-small smile on his face. "Same here."

"Hey, what about me?" Kankorou complained.

"Hehe… It's nice to see you too, Kankorou." Naruto said as he put a hand in front, which Kankorou also shook.

"Oh, and by the way, this is Shoushi and he's my personal guard." He motioned towards Itachi who just grunted in response. "He's not exactly a man of many words." Ghaara could easily relate to that. Ghaara then motioned for them to follow him, which they all did, with the exception of Shikamaru and Temari who were walking off in a different direction, arm-in-arm. Naruto just chuckled quietly to himself at the sight of the two lovebirds, but then a frown appeared on his face as he remembered Hinata and Tsuki, oh how he missed them. But before he got a chance to think more they had already arrived at the Kazekage household. They entered.

"Kankorou, show our guests where their rooms are. I must go back to the office and try to finish the damn paperwork." Ghaara said in his monotone voice. Sand started to appear around him until he was gone.

"Fine, fine… I guess I don't have a choice." Kankorou said before he started walking, with Naruto and Itachi following. They then stopped outside of a large dark brown door. "This is where the Hokage will be staying."

"Please, just call me Naruto. We are all friends here."

"Ok then. And next door is Shoushi's room. Hope you like them." Kankorou then left the two so that they could settle into their rooms. Naruto's was rather large, with beige wall, dark oak furnisher, which included a double bed, a bedside table, a closet, a desk, a chair and another door which lead into a bathroom. The floor was also wooden. Itachi's room was much similar, except that the walls were white.

Back with Shikamaru and Temari…

The two lovers were sitting in a restaurant eating lunch together. They were making small talk, just catching up and checking how the other has been doing.

"I've really missed you, Shikamaru." Temari said, her cheeks turning a bit rosy.

"I've missed you too." Shikamaru said, before leaning over the table to plant a quick kiss on Temari's lips.

"So, how long will you be staying here this time?"

"Probably a week, maybe a bit more. Depends on how things go."

"Oh. Ok." The two sat silently, eating their food.

When the two had finished and paid, they left together, heading towards a cliff so that the could admire the view there. The view looked out all over the city. It was truly breathtaking.

As the two stood there, side-by-side, Shikamaru put an arm around Temari's shoulder. Both of them blushed when Temari turned around to look at Shikamaru.

"I love you… I love you very much." Temari whispered.

Shikamaru smiled before saying, "I love you too." Then the two lovers kissed. They were very passionate, yet very gentle. Anyone could see that they were very serious about their relationship. But sadly, it was difficult for them to be together, as Shikamaru was the head in tactics and strategy in Konoha and Temari had to take care of both of her siblings, as no-one dared to take care of Kankorou and Ghaara disliked having servants or any strangers near him. So the two lovers could never be together for good, no matter how much they desperately wanted to. But they enjoyed these few weeks which they had together and made the most of them.

Hours past, the sky was darkening and the sun was setting. Sunsets in Suna were known for there beauty and created the perfect atmosphere for any lovers. When the sun was gone, they both left to go to Temari's wing of the Kazekage's estate. They then spent the night together there.

The next morning…

Knock, knock…

"Enter." Said the Hokage. He had been sitting at the desk, looking at a photo of his wife and daughter. He always missed them a lot when he was away on trips.

In came Kankorou. "Ghaara wishes to speak to you Naruto. He says that it is urgent."

"Thank you Kankorou. I'll be on my way." He then placed his photo onto the desk before heading off to the Kazekage's office.

He knocked on the door and entered when he heard a grunt which was Ghaara's way of say 'come in'.

"You wanted to see me?"

Ghaara temporarily ignored him as he just finished some of his paperwork. "Yes, I did. There is a problem here in Suna. A boy to be exact. You see, the people here aren't taking it too well. The boy has an inner self which he can't always control. It is like he is two people who share one body." Ghaara paused as he saw that Naruto was indeed intrigued by this but had no idea where it was going. "He has no family, they had all been killed whilst trying to protect him from everyone else. The villagers fear him due to them not understanding him. There have been numerous counts of attempts at assassination and the more they occur the more unstable he gets. He gets easily paranoid and the sort. I can feel that he hates being here and that he can't take it anymore."

"Yes I understand. But what has this got to do with me?"

"The thing is… I was wandering if you wouldn't mind taking him back with you to Konoha, permitting that he takes a liking for you."

"You mean that you want me to take him in?" Naruto asked, although he knew what the answer would be.

"Yes. If you don't mind of course." Naruto sat there thinking. Then his thoughts went back into the past, to the time when he was alone, hated and feared by everyone. He found himself somehow relating to this boy, even though he had never met him. And before he knew it he had agreed.

"You sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

"Thank you my friend." Ghaara then made a strange motion with his hand and a sand village ANBU appeared. Ghaara whispered something to him and the ANBU disappeared again. Then the door opened and in came Kankorou with a boy of about ten years. His hair was identical of that which Kiba had at that age, His eyes were… they had two different shades, his left eye was silver whilst his right eye was a deep green. His face showed no emotion, but when looking at his eyes you could see sadness. He wore a navy t-shirt and a pair of grey shorts. He had a pair of black ninja sandals on and a black fishnet shirt on underneath his t-shirt. He also had his right ear pieced at the top where a silver ring was present.

"Kitai, this is Naruto. He is the Hokage." The boy looked up and saw the other man in the room. He gave a quick smile, but Naruto could tell that it was a fake one, as he had done that himself countless times.

"Hello Kitai." Naruto bent down and put a hand forward, which the boy eventually shook abruptly. "How old are you Kitai." Naruto asked on the softest voice he could find.

Kitai stood there hesitant for a moment before muttering, "Ten years, sir."

"Really. I have a daughter who is nine. Her name's Tsuki." Kitai just nodded at this. He still wasn't making eye contact.

"You know. You and I aren't so different." At this, Kitai looked up and said, "How's that?"

"You see, when I was very young, I became a vessel. Everyone knew, apart from me. I had no-one. All of the villagers hated me and feared me. They often attacked me." With this, Naruto could see that there was now some hope in the boy's eyes. "Our histories aren't that different." Naruto was now showing a small smile as the boy's eyes began showing some other sort of emotion, apart from sadness.

"H-how do they feel about you being Hokage then?"

"Well, you see, I trained and practiced all the time, pushing myself all the way. I did whatever I could to protect the village and I eventually gained their respect and the recognition that I wasn't a demon. But there are still a few people who have a bad view of me and I don't think that they'll ever change but the point is that if you work hard and do what you can for the people you care about, then you'll earn respect, and more importantly, friends." Kitai was now smiling. "Do you understand?" The boy then nodded enthusiastically.

"It seems that Kitai has taken some liking to you Naruto." Ghaara stated, with a smile on his face.

"And I've taken a liking to him too." Naruto then smiled before turning to Ghaara. "I'll leave you two alone so that you can talk." Everyone had now gone apart from Kitai and Ghaara. Ghaara motioned for Kitai to sit down on a chair by his desk.

"So, what do you think of Naruto?"

"I-I think he's nice."

"Indeed, as do I. In fact, he was the one who made me what I am today. As you probably know, I am also a vessel, and my history is slightly similar, but I took a different path. I thought that my purpose was to kill. But Naruto he saw through that and he was the first person who I could relate to. He made me see that I wasn't a killer, that I was just confused. After our battle. I knew that I had changed. And from that day forward, we have been very close friends. Thanks to him, I have friends and respect, not respect from fear, but respect from kindness. And I'm not the only one that he's had an influence on."

Kitai was now looking at Ghaara, with his eyes as wide as they could get. He was amazed by what he was hearing, amazed by what Naruto had done, after everything that he had gone through. Naruto was now instantly his idol, his roll-model.

"You ok Kitai?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now you're probably wandering what he has to do with you aren't you?" Kitai nodded. "Well, as you know, most of the villagers her don't seem to… well… you know… they don't exactly understand you so they fear you." Kitai was now looking down at the floor sadly again. "That is why I have proposed for you to go back to Konoha with Naruto when he and his companions leave. I want you to go and live with him. I think that you'll enjoy it more there, a new beginning if you will." They now had eye contact and for the first time, since he had been taken in by the sand siblings, he was happy. "So, what do you say?"

"Ye-I-um…" Kitai just smiled as he couldn't find the right way to put it.

"Ok, then it's settled. I believe that they'll be leaving sometime next week." He then motioned for Kitai to leave which he did.

As Kitai closed the door and sat down, leaning against the wall. He hadn't quite take it all in. It was all so sudden. Tears of joy started flowing from his eyes.

Back in Naruto's room…

Naruto was back at the desk, looking at his precious photo, when the someone knocked at the door.

"Enter." When the door opened, a boy poked his head round the door. "Kitai, what are you doing here?" By the time he had finished his sentence, he had already been embraced in a hug from the boy.
"So… does that mean that you're coming with us?" Naruto managed to say, even though he was slightly chuckling. Kitai nodded very enthusiastically.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that."
"Who are they?" Kitai asked as he was looking at the photo.
"This is my wife, Hyuuga Hinata, and this is my daughter, Uzumaki Tsuki."
"They are very beautiful."

"I think so too. You'll be meeting them soon."